Before becoming missionaries, Zack and Jen Sportsman were actively involved in diverse areas of ministry in their home church. In 2011 they served under the Associates In Missions program in West Africa. There they taught in the Bible school, trained local church leaders to establish children's Sunday school, facilitated a retreat for pastors' kids and helped develop the next generation of leaders. Their first country of appointment is French-speaking, so they devoted time to language study. In 2019 they changed fields are are now working in Rwanda and Burundi.